End of the Road for Pataki, Says Gallagher at RBA luncheon

End of the Road for Pataki, Says Gallagher

February 21 , 2006
by Dylan Skriloff

George Pataki has no political future, says Jay Gallagher, Albany Bureau Chief for Gannet newspapers.

"He'll probably end up at a Wall Street law firm," Gallagher told the RBA newsletter, after he delivered a humorous speech critical of the departing Governor and New York politics in general, to the 130 or so RBA members gathered for the February General Membership Luncheon.

His speech was titled "George Pataki: The Final Act?" and he opened by tersely answering, "yes." He estimated that the Republican Pataki had no chance of winning victory as President because his liberal social views won't sit well with the conservative Republican base and that he has no appeal as a Vice President because he could not deliver the New York vote.

In fact, according to Gallagher, were he to run for Governor again, he'd lose in a landslide. That's because the economy of upstate New York is still in shambles and people there are two to one against him. In spite of these daunting odds Pataki persists in his bid, presumably because he's beaten the odds in so many other political campaigns, Gallagher said.

In all, Gallagher painted Pataki's twelve years as underwhelming. But he did not put all the blame on him, noting that New York has had the same problems for decades.

Gallagher is the author of the book New York: A State in Decline. He pointed out that since 1990, job growth has been 22% nationally but only 3% in New York. Many cities upstate have had negligible or negative job growth. Any future Governor has his work cut out for him. He said he did not expect change to come to the state until the people themselves demand it.

"State government is often overlooked. People don't realize how much of an impact it has on their lives," Gallagher told the RBA.

Gallagher, a personal friend of the RBA's CEO and President Al Samuels and regular speaker at RBA events, has been working in Albany for over 20 years. He compared the styles of former Governor Mario Cuomo and Governor Pataki. Cuomo, who prior to becoming Governor was known to be very personable and affable, came to be very difficult to talk to, because he would overanalyze any question offered by a reporter, whereas Pataki, was always more of a yes or no guy. The problem with that was he became more prone to say nothing at all and hide his entire agenda, Gallagher said.

"Very early in his first campaign he decided the less the public knew about what he was thinking the better," Gallagher said.

Another criticism Gallagher had of Pataki was that he had come up with some good ideas but has not used his bully pulpit as Governor to force them through the legislature, citing the Workers Compensation system as an example. New York is notorious for having an overpriced system that actually produces less benefits and Pataki has created a good proposal to remedy the situation, but has yet to really fight the opposition by labor unions on the issue.

He spoke of the prospects of Eliot Spitzer as Governor, calling him "everybody's white horse."

"For those expecting nirvana when Spitzer comes in I wouldn't count on it," he said.

He noted that Spitzer has a no lose position right now as Attorney General; if you don't do anything spectacular then so be it, but if you go out and prosecute corporate criminals you are a hero. The question for Gallagher is how will Spitzer respond when he is in the position where he has to make decisions under pressure.

Rockland County Legislator Alden Wolfe (D) disagreed, he feels Spitzer can take charge and get the job done. He did not feel Pataki had left much of a legacy behind as Governor.

"My estimation of his leadership is that we live in one of the most expensive states in the country. To bring costs down requires leadership from the top and he has not done that," Wolfe said.

Mike Diederich, an attorney, said Pataki was a victim of New York politics and lacked the resolve necessary to get things done.